“Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?’. So Jesus said to him, ‘why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother.’. And he answered and said to Him, ‘Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.’. Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘One think you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.’. But he was sad at this word and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

I’ve read this story so many times. Most of the times, the moral is choosing the worldly possessions over Jesus.

In a sense, that’s my point of view today too. But I want to look from a different angle.

I thought as I read this passage, “Man, he has Jesus right in front of him! In his face right in front of him and he chose to walk away.” And I think again to myself, “I would NEVER do that.”

But I do. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

I may not have Him here in my face in human form as this rich man did. But He is here.

Right in front of me.

He is more accessible to us now, than then. He is with us always. Right in front of us, always.

But a lot of times, we choose to walk away.

You may be thinking, ‘What on earth do you mean?? I don’t walk away from Jesus ever!’

But you do. I do. We ALL do.

How many times do we choose to pick up the TV remote instead of our bible? He’s right in front of us and we walk away to watch the news, your soaps, your sitcoms. Whatever your favorites are.

How many times do we pick up our phones instead of our bibles? He’s right in front of us, yet we choose to walk away to talk to someone else.

How many times do we reach for our ear buds or head phones to listen to the radio instead of our bibles? He’s right in front of us, yet we choose to walk away and listen to someone else.

My friends, don’t get me wrong. It’s ok to watch TV, listen to the radio, text or talk to your friends. I do it all the time.

But we do need to put Jesus before all of those things. Take the time to talk to Him, listen to Him while He is right in front of you.

Do this BEFORE it’s too late. Don’t walk away from the one who loves you the most.

If you think you are sensing my urgency, you are.

Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon HIm while He is near.”

Until next time…